{"id":9378,"date":"2021-05-23T13:44:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T13:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/?p=9378"},"modified":"2021-07-01T14:38:57","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T14:38:57","slug":"kabuliwallas-among-us-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/kabuliwallas-among-us-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghans Among Us – Kabuliwallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afghans Among Us<\/h1>\n
\"Kabuliwalla

Photo by Nicole Herbert Dean<\/p><\/div>\n

I recently created \u092c\u0928\u093e\u092f\u093e a children\u2019s workbook based on a favorite childhood \u092c\u091a\u092a\u0928 story called Kabuliwalla. Rabindranath Tagore wrote this story \u0915\u0939\u093e\u0928\u0940 in the year 1892. The story is about an Afghan who used to sell dried fruit \u0938\u0942\u0916\u0947 \u092b\u0932 \u092c\u0947\u091a\u0928\u093e and nuts on the streets of Calcutta. Natives of Calcutta or Kolkatta as its known today, called these Afghan fruit sellers, Kabuliwalla \u0915\u093e\u092c\u0941\u0932\u0940\u0935\u093e\u0932\u093e.<\/p>\n

Kabul,\u00a0 is the capital of Afghanistan and \u2018walla\u2019 a common \u0906\u092e \u00a0Hindi adjectival suffix, in this context referring to the person \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f.<\/p>\n

History of the Afghans in India<\/h2>\n

I started researching how \u0915\u0948\u0938\u093e and why \u0915\u094d\u092f\u094b\u0902 Tagore came to write this story and stumbled upon an interesting history of the Afghans<\/a> in India. I remember seeing Afghans in Mumbai<\/a> as a young child.<\/p>\n

Afghans have lived \u0930\u0939\u0924\u0947 \u0925\u0947 in Calcutta for many years although \u092f\u0926\u094d\u092f\u092a\u093f their numbers are dwindling. They first came to Calcutta in 1839 soon after the Anglo-Afghan wars. Afghans\u00a0 are also called Pathans \u092a\u0920\u093e\u0928\u094b\u0902 because they came from Pashtunistan. They traveled via Kandahar \u2013 Quetta on the Southern land route \u092e\u093e\u0930\u094d\u0917.\u00a0 Most sold fruit and nuts door to door. These tall imposing \u092d\u0935\u094d\u092f \u00a0men in their long loose tunics and baggy pants, left their families \u092a\u0930\u093f\u0935\u093e\u0930\u094b\u0902 behind and traveled for months around India.<\/p>\n

In 1947 when India gained Independence \u0905\u0928\u0927\u0940\u0928\u0924\u093e from the British, many of the Afghans traveling in India found it difficult \u0915\u0920\u093f\u0928 to go back home. Many remained in Calcutta because the city welcomed \u0938\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0917\u0924 them. Because they would travel alone \u0905\u0915\u0947\u0932\u093e they married Indian women. \u00a0Although they were open to marriage with Indians they fiercely \u091c\u092e\u0915\u0930 retained their Afghan identity.<\/p>\n

Lifestyle, Customs and Culture<\/h2>\n

They brought with them their customs and traditions<\/a> \u0930\u0940\u0924\u093f-\u0930\u093f\u0935\u093e\u091c \u0914\u0930 \u092a\u0930\u0902\u092a\u0930\u093e\u090f\u0902 \u00a0<\/a>which are tribal in nature with strict secretive codes \u0917\u0941\u092a\u094d\u0924 \u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e\u090f\u0902. They speak Pashto and celebrate \u092e\u0928\u093e\u0928\u093e Eid just like they would back home, eating together on dastarkhans<\/a>. The Pathans adopted \u0905\u092a\u0928\u093e\u092f\u093e \u00a0India as their home. They use the term \u092e\u0941\u0932\u094d\u0915 which means native country when referring to India.<\/p>\n

These Kabuliwallas live in what is known as Khan Kothis. \u00a0There are still about 200 Khan Kothis in Kolkatta today \u2013 retaining their simplicity \u0938\u093e\u0926\u0917\u0940 and minimalistic d\u00e9cor. The lifestyle \u091c\u0940\u0935\u0928-\u0936\u0948\u0932\u0940 of the Pathans is also quite simple. They dine on the dastarkhwans, \u00a0love flying kites \u092a\u0924\u0902\u0917 \u0909\u0921\u093c\u093e\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0941\u090f at the maidans around Calcutta and performing \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0926\u0930\u094d\u0936\u0928 the Pashtun Attan dance. They also have ‘anda kushti’ which are hard-boiled egg fights.<\/p>\n

Today the Kabuliwalla’s means of livelihood \u0930\u094b\u095b\u0940 includes money lending and other trades besides selling dried fruit and nuts.<\/p>\n

Disparities and Inequalities \u0905\u0938\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0924\u093e do not deter their love<\/h2>\n

In today\u2019s India, they do not enjoy the same privileges \u0935\u093f\u0936\u0947\u0937\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915\u093e\u0930 as other Indians. Many do not possess simple Indian documents \u0926\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0935\u0947\u091c\u093c such as a passport or an Aadhar card \u2013 an Indian document much needed for important transactions \u0932\u0947\u0928\u0926\u0947\u0928 such as buying a house.<\/p>\n

When you ask them if they ever want to go back to Afghanistan, many reply that they would not despite \u0915\u0947 \u092c\u093e\u0935\u091c\u0942\u0926 their love for the land of their birth. This is because they enjoy the freedom \u0938\u094d\u0935\u0924\u0902\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093e, better living conditions \u0930\u0939\u0928-\u0938\u0939\u0928 \u0915\u0940 \u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f and ease in making a livelihood in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Kabuliwalla

Afghans Among Us I recently created \u092c\u0928\u093e\u092f\u093e a children\u2019s workbook based on a favorite childhood \u092c\u091a\u092a\u0928 story called Kabuliwalla. Rabindranath Tagore wrote this story \u0915\u0939\u093e\u0928\u0940 in the year 1892. The story is about an Afghan who used to sell dried fruit \u0938\u0942\u0916\u0947 \u092b\u0932 \u092c\u0947\u091a\u0928\u093e and nuts on the streets of Calcutta. Natives of Calcutta or…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":9381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,547385],"tags":[556285,556290,556292,556287,556289,556288,556286,556291],"class_list":["post-9378","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-travel-geography","tag-afghans","tag-anglo-afghan-war","tag-calcutta","tag-dastarkhwan","tag-dried-fruit-sellers","tag-flying-kites","tag-kabul","tag-kolkata"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9378"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9464,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9378\/revisions\/9464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}